Introduction to the Lectionary Companion – 59.1

Sally Ann McKinsey

Weekly worship brings us back again and again to the corporate actions that form us in faith. We gather, give thanks, confess sin, and hear God’s word. We respond with word and song, at table and font, and are sent out to serve. Liturgical time brings us back around to expectant Advent. Repetition makes the patterns that sustain and transform us. What a responsibility to accompany the body in the kind of repetition that brings us to life. May this resource support you in your community’s sacred pattern, that we might join God’s mission of love and justice in this urgent time. 

In this issue you will find weekly and seasonal suggestions for liturgy, music, and art responding to Scripture readings from the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A. I am grateful for the musicians who have offered a wide range of ideas for music, from congregational song to anthems for adult, youth, and children’s choirs to piano and organ music. Special thanks to Phillip Morgan, music editor, whose tireless efforts have been vital to this edition and to the journal.  

A few notes about music featured in this issue: suggestions for psalms and canticles have been compiled by Drs. Joshua Taylor and Michael Conrady and include suggestions from advanced and graduate students as part of a course at the University of North Texas. This approach reflects the journal’s efforts to affirm collaborative partnership and provide space for new voices. Many thanks to the students whose ideas will enliven worship in the coming year. Vocal solos, offered this year by Jeanine Wagner, appear seasonally from Advent to Easter and weekly from Pentecost to Reign of Christ Sunday. We hope this supports congregations whose choirs take a summer break. Piano music appears weekly rather than seasonally to support those who prefer piano or do not have an organ. 

I give thanks for the gifts of the writers who contributed liturgy to this edition. Four unique voices approached common elements of liturgy with wisdom. Avery Arden writes for Advent and Christmas with attention to accessible and inclusive language. Esta Jarrett offers beautiful prayers that accompany us through Lent and Easter. Natarsha Sanders gives us the gift of shorter, repeatable pieces that come from psalms and hymn texts to use in the first half of the Time after Pentecost. Sam Lundquist crafts poetic liturgy that turns us toward issues of justice and carries us through Ordinary Time until Reign of Christ Sunday. 

Liturgy found here remains adaptable. The prayer of the day for each Sunday and festival can be used as an opening prayer, as a prayer around the sermon, or as an opening or closing collect in the prayers of the people. Seasonal confession and lament sequences encourage you to repeat them throughout a season or for several weeks. We hope that repetition, particularly for liturgy spoken in unison, increases participation by creating a recognizable pattern. 

Seasonal invitations to discipleship offer language that can be used following the proclamation of the word, as part of the offertory, or as a sending action. Prayers of Great Thanksgiving for use at the table range in length. Though these prayers are listed with the seasons, they can be adapted for any time. 

I am grateful for the recent addition of https://calltoworshipjournal.org to the life of the journal. Here you can find full weekly orders of worship under the “Lectionary Companion” tab. These services include the new liturgy in this edition and additional pieces not printed here. If you rely upon weekly prayers of confession, for example, you may turn to the services published online, which feature prayers from the Call to Worship archives and show liturgy in the context of a full Lord’s Day service. 

The collective work of the many contributors to this resource teaches us that we are not alone in the planning and practice of worship. May worship both comfort and challenge us as we learn God’s love and enact God’s justice together. Blessings in your worship planning in the year ahead!

Sally Ann McKinsey
Managing Editor